Lorenzo R Smith Elem School, Pembroke Township IL

Original Research by School Decision on Lorenzo R Smith Elem School

Lorenzo R Smith Elem School sits in Pembroke Township, a sparsely settled rural area in southeastern Kankakee County that was founded as a Black farming community in the 1860s. The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in a building at the edge of Hopkins Park, the small civic center of the township.

The school enrollment is small, with fewer than two hundred students spread across ten grade levels. The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with roughly equal shares of each group; a small number of students identify as white or multiracial. Free-and-reduced-price lunch data was not available, but the locale itself is marked by persistent poverty: median household income in the township is in the mid-range for the U.S., but a substantial share of residents live below the poverty line, and basic services such as grocery stores and gas stations have historically been absent from the community.

State test results in math and English language arts show patterns that warrant careful attention. In third and fifth grade math, the school recorded no students at proficient levels; fourth grade math proficiency sat in the single digits, and even by seventh and eighth grades, proficiency remained well below one in ten students in math overall. English language arts performance was less severe but still well below state norms: fourth grade showed roughly one in three students proficient, and eighth grade roughly two in five, but earlier grades scored much lower. Science proficiency at fifth grade was very low; eighth grade science was notably higher at roughly three in five students. Overall, the school's average proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile when compared against other districts in Kankakee County.

Assessment changes at the state level in 2025 mean that trend comparisons to prior years cannot be made. The school participates fully in testing, with participation rates near or at complete across grades.

Pembroke Township and its school are at the center of significant community change. The township has no large private employers; the economy is anchored by small-scale agriculture, churches, and government. A new conservation hub called Okàn Savanna is being developed near the school, library, senior center, and community park in a shared public campus. At the same time, the district's property tax levy is increasing for 2025, which will raise the direct tax burden on any family owning property in the township. Housing values in the zip code are modest by state and national standards, and remain below the state benchmark.

A parent considering this school should look carefully at the current academic performance data with the school administration, particularly in math and early elementary grades. The school's small size means classes are intimate, and the community is close-knit and historically rooted. The area is rural and does not offer the amenities of a suburban or urban setting. At the same time, the school is embedded in a township that is investing in basic infrastructure, conservation, and community facilities in ways that may shape the environment and the school's role in it over the next several years.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 0%

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 46%

School 6% · District 6%

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 0%

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 0%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 79%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 13%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 313%

School 13% · District 13%

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Science

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

This schoolPembroke CCSD 259, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.